


some people get parrots to cope

by thenightpainter



Category: Black Sails
Genre: Angst, Captain Flint/Thomas Hamilton/John Silver (eventual/implied), Crack, Fix-It of Sorts, M/M, Multi, Parrots, Post-Finale, Reunions, parrot verse, tagging because i might do a series of one shots in this verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-21 10:34:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10683525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenightpainter/pseuds/thenightpainter
Summary: Several years have past since the events of Skeleton Island and the words John Silver heard then still haunted him. As time passed those words weighed more and more on him, and he started to forget the voice that had said them. It came as no surprise when Silver came across a parrot on a raid and a drunken idea lead to nights of trying to imitate those words to the bird.Soon after, Silver finds himself in a bookstore in a costal town and believes he has seen a ghost....





	some people get parrots to cope

**Author's Note:**

> For [ryuutsu](http://ryuutsu.tumblr.com/) on tumblr  
> Inspired by [ this gifset](http://thomashamilton.tumblr.com/post/135158657556/silverflint-au-captain-flint-meets-captain-flint).

Several years had past since the events of Skeleton Island and the words John Silver heard then still haunted him. The first few weeks were strange, then there was a phantom pain he couldn’t place, like another lost limb but somewhere deep in his heart. Months past and there was something missing, it finally started to dawn on him, if only he had realized it sooner. **  
**

Madi had forgiven him, but they couldn’t quite find peace. She had lost something too. Not in the same way perhaps, but Silver was starting to see how much it affected her. Silver saw her sitting, reading, or staring off and knew, they both missed him.

Silver found himself wandering the shores until his leg ached too much. There was a ghost on the breeze near that cliff, Silver wasn’t sure if he was running from it or trying to find it. The months turned into a year and Silver found himself at sea again, captain of a ship with the crew he knew, the crew he had fought for, at least those who were left.

As time passed those words weighed more and more on Silver, and he started to forget the voice that had said them. Silver would do anything to hear his voice again, hear anything from him, even if it was “You shit.”It really was no surprise when Silver came across a parrot on a raid and a drunken idea lead to nights of trying to imitate those words to the bird.

Many of the crew hated the new “Captain Flint”, the scarlet macaw that yelled out orders and cursed like her namesake. Some of the older crew members that remembered the man himself felt chills when they heard some of the phrases the bird had learned. Though, the bird could be won over with food scraps and there was no fear of speaking out against it.

It was a cool spring when silver and his crew stopped off at a coastal town off Florida. Silver hadn’t been this close to Savannah in years, since that last time, he hadn’t dared return since. Perhaps it was fear, or guilt, but most likely shame.

This was meant to be a quick stop, but something had urged Silver to stay for a few days. In the afternoon he’s left most of the crew at a nearby inn and he’d wandered off into the town. Silver thought about buying something for Madi, but she was never interested in gold or jewelry, or most of the things he’s bring back.

It was then that Silver came across a bookstore, something that he didn’t find often with most of the towns he hound himself in. Silver knew all too well of Madi’s love for books and found himself wandering through. Silver urged the bird on his shoulder to be quiet, the shopkeeper seemed weary of him but said nothing. He had no idea what to get her, he was never much of a book person, but he was hoping something would catch his eye.

Silver didn’t recognize many of the titles he saw but on the other side of the store, he found his finger brushing across the red leather binding that looked very familiar. “Meditations” the gold letters read. Silver felt his heart sinking, he remembered the last time he saw a similar copy of the book, and it’s particular owner.

Silver couldn’t help but overhear foot steps and the shop clerk talking to someone as he wandered towards another self. “Mr. Barlow, James, good afternoon sir, your timing is excellent, the books you ordered have arrived, let me get them for you.”

Silver froze when he heard the names. James, and Barlow, that man’s name was such a painful coincidence. He hadn’t heard those particular names in so long, but the memories they brought back. Of course it couldn’t be, but Silver couldn’t resist but look over the shelf at this ‘Mr. Barlow’.

A flash of red. Red hair, the man was tuned away but silver could see the that he had red hair pulled back in a very familiar style.

It couldn’t be, it couldn’t be him… could it?

Silver stepped forward, but with his leg and the old floors in the place, his approach wasn’t unnoticed. The floorboards creaked and the man turned around, Silver froze in his path.

Flint. It was him, it was really him.

The same beard and furled eyebrows. Hair now long again, only slightly greying at the temples. He said nothing, just stared back at Silver.

“I-” Silver tired, but couldn’t even manage a word.

Flint’s face twitched, and he opened his mouth, but couldn’t seem to find the words either. The two were interrupted when the shopkeeper returned with a stack of books.

“Here you go James, now anything else?”

Flint turned to the man, as though nothing had happened, “No, thank you Sam, that will be all.”

“And you sir? Are you alright?” The man said, now facing Silver.

“Oh yes fine, no I think I found everything.”

“Well, good day then, James.”

Flint gather the parcel off the counter after the other man left. He stopped to look over at Silver again.

“Would you like to come over for a cup of tea?” he asked, in a calm tone, not meeting his eyes.

“I- Well yes, of course.”

“Good, let's go.”

Silver listened and followed Flint outside and down a path.

“So, James Barlow is it now?”

“Yes, no one can know who I am, and I don’t think I should be saying your name aloud here either.”

“Fair point.”

“What’s with the bird?”

“It’s a bit of a long story.”

“Isn’t it always.”

The rest of the walk was spent in silence, neither of them looking at each other. Silver had fantasized about running into Flint, and about all the things he would say to him. He had received word that two men had left the plantation as planned, but had no idea where they had headed after. At a point Silver had both dreamed and feared coming a cross some magnificent ship at sea, flying that old banner, the ship would approach and Silver would see it’s captain, his captain. Silver kept hoping that somewhere, somehow he would run into him. He always thought he would be met with either an embrace or a pistol to his chest.

However as the years went on, Silver began to realize that that was unlikely, that Flint was lost to him forever, and it was all his fault. Instead here he was, and it wasn’t going at all like he would have ever expected. Flint lead them down a path into a more forested area out of town, to a small house on a large lot.

“We’re here.” Flint simply said, opening the door.

Flint set the books down on a table. He reached into his boot to pull out a knife to cut the string. The sight made Silver smile.

“Sit,” Flint simply said pointing to one of the chairs.

“So, where’s Thomas?” Silver asks.

“Thomas is out, he works as a tutor now.”

“Oh I see.”

“Tea?” Flint asks, although he was already bringing two cups over.

“Yes of course.”

Flint sits across the table quietly, letting out a sigh. As Silver drank he couldn’t help but stare at the other man. He still had the earring, and his beard looked much like the one he had when they first met. Silver knew he was wrong when he thought Flint had changed, he knew that, but it really showed now.

“You grew your hair.” Silver finally said

“Yes, and you got a fucking bird.”

“I’m just, glad to see you doing well here, in peace.”

“I guess you could say that. What about you, Long John Silver?”

“I’ve been more in the merchant business now,” it was a lie, of course it was a lie, and Flint knew it too.

“Am I right to assume that you are a captain now.”

There’s a sadness to Flint that puts silver off ease. He’s more rested, he looks better, he looks so good, but there’s something. Perhaps it was always there, buried deep. Silver isn’t sure why he brought it up, why he’d mention it, but he spoke anyway.

“Yes. I actually found myself in charlestown not to long ago, and you know they still haven’t managed to rebuild that town since you burned it down with that Spanish warship.”

Seeing the change in Flint’s eyes immediately made silver regret ever bringing it up, but before he could say anything else, the bird screeched out.

“The fucking warship!”

Flint shifted in his chair, brows furrowing, looking at the bird.  

“You shit!” it says looking down at Silver.

“Ssshhh!” Silver tried to calm it down. He turned back to look at Flint.

Flint was all still there, his eyes were piercing and cold, that twitch in his cheek. Silver knew that anger, it wasn’t always just anger, emotions stirring at the surface, the rage showing itself.

“Sorry about that, now-”

“Caw! What the fuck did you think was gonna happen! Caw!” The bird continued.

Flint’s eyes were now locked with Silvers, neither sure what to say.

“You are the best of us! Caw!”

“You shit!” this time it’s Flint who yells those words.

“Wait, captain, I can explain-”

“You better.” he says with a snarl, staring back between him and the bird.

"You were gone. I didn't— Fuck, you were gone." Silver found himself at a loss for words. “I missed- it was so hard- I couldn’t remember your voice.”

Flint’s expression changes, some of the rage disappears. He suddenly gets up and goes back towards the kitchen, reaching for something in a cabinet.

“Say what you will about Captain Flint, but the man sure had a great arse!” The bird suddenly begins again.

“Shut up!” Silver tries at the bird, but it was no use.

“I know Madi, I miss him too you have no idea-” the bird continues, despite Silver’s efforts.

“Shut up dammit!”

“I was wrong, I know that now, please. Caw!” With that it finally stopped.

Flint pauses for a moment, but continues despite the things he might have just heard. He returns with a bottle of what looks like rum, he pours it right into the two tea cups and sits back down.

“Does Thomas know about this?” silver asked.

“No, Yes, I don’t know, I have it that’s the point, quit trying to change the subject.”

“Right.”

“What did you name the thing? Don’t tell me you named it after me.”

“I- well- I did actually.”

“Jesus Christ, Silver.”

That was the first time in a long time that he had heard Flint use his name like that, and despite the circumstances, silver enjoyed those words.

There’s a silence again, neither of them meeting the other's’ gaze. They’d take turns looking up at each other.

Silver tried a couple times to break the silence, be he wasn’t sure what to say. Flint doesn't say anything either, just drank down the rest of his cup and reached for the bottle again to refill.  

~~~

The sun was setting outside and the bottle was nearing emptiness, Silver felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and it wasn’t just because Captain Flint, the bird, had moved over to perch on another chair.

They’d each had several cups of the stashed rum before the parrot burst out again, talking about pieces of eight. Flint at this point couldn’t help but ask how piracy was going in his absence, and they began talking about the old days.

Silver could feel the void in his chest filling back up, and it wasn’t just the alcohol. Hearing Flint, his Captain Flint, cursing and laughing again, the way he did, was everything Silver had been missing in the past years.

The Flint sitting before him, was so beautiful. There were now no blood or cuts across his face, beard neatly trimmed, his hair not quite long enough to be fully pulled back now in his face after he ran his hands through it.

“So, whatever happened to that Billy Bones, have you heard from him lately?”

“No, last I recall you dropped him into the sea, never to be heard from again.”

“I did.” Flint says, with a laugh.

That laugh was something else, such a rare sound in itself, but here it was, more amazing than Silver remembered.

Flint reaches out a hand, placing it on Silver’s.

“It’s been- I- It’s good to see you again” he manages.

“You too, captain.”

“You really shouldn't call me that anymore.”

“What can I say, you’ll always be my captain, besides it’s not like I can call you Flint, in the open at least, or McGraw for that matter.”

“James.”

“I’m sorry?”

“You can call me James, if you’d like.”

“James, Captain James, alright.”

That earns a sly smile and a head shake from Flint. They hear the front door open and Silver looks over at the tall man standing at the end of the room. Silver assumes this must be Thomas Hamilton.

“Well good evening, I didn’t know we were expecting company. Ah, drinking are we?” he asks walking over to the table, “well save some for me at least.” He picks up the teacup in front of Flint. “Now, I can only presume that you are John Silver,” he says turning.

“Yes, and you must be Thomas Hamilton.” Silver said looking up at the man.

“Ah, I’m pleased to finally meet you, James has told me quite a lot about you.”

“Has he really?”

“Yes, Now may i have a moment with my husband? James, the drawing room if you don’t mind.”

Flint stands up and follows Thomas to the other room. Silver doesn’t hear the conversation but he can only assume that it must be about him, or the drinking, or well anything really. They return before too long

“Right, I’ll leave you to it.” Thomas says before going back into the other room.

Flint’s face now more serious, he walks back towards the table, swaying a little.

“Silver, I think there’s some things we need to discuss.”

“Yes, there are.”

“I wanted to thank-”

“You were right.” Silver says, before Flint can finish.

“What?”

“You were right, about everything, I just, I couldn’t see it then. And then I lost you, i told myself that you’d changed but-”

There was warm palm at the side of his face, a thumb wiping away a tear Silver didn’t even realize was there.

“You shit,” Flint whispered, but the tone was completely different, his expression was soft.  

Silver can’t help but smile a little, Flint was smiling too.

Silver leaned in closed, into the touch, closer towards Flint.

He’d wanted to do this for a long time, and here he finally was. He leaned in, gently kissing his captain. They’ve both been drinking and it’s sloppy, but it’s everything Silver wanted.  

Silver breaks the kiss, realizing where he is and how late it’s gotten.

“I- I need to get back to my ship, the crew.”

“It’s quite late, Perhaps, you could stay the night” Thomas adds from the doorway.

“No, I-”

“Please, stay, I know what you mean to James, and I for one would love to hear more about the other man that managed to capture his heart.”

**Author's Note:**

> My first actual fic for this fandom! 
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at [the-night-painter](https://the-night-painter.tumblr.com/) or [in-the-darkness](https://in-the-darkness.tumblr.com/)


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